Machines for preparing coffee, in particular espresso coffee, are known in the art.
Such machines are usually divided in traditional machines and super-automatic machines.
Traditional machines comprise, for instance, machines that in any case require the presence of an operator and in turn, they are conventionally divided in semiautomatic machines and automatic machines.
Semiautomatic machines comprise machines in which the dosage of ground coffee is measured by means of external measuring devices and the espresso coffee supply is controlled by the operator by means of a machine key.
Automatic machines comprise machines in which the dosage of ground coffee is measured by means of external measuring devices and the supply is activated by the operator by means of suitable keys in which each key corresponds, for instance, to a type of coffee to be supplied.
Super-automatic machines conventionally comprise machines in which it is provided that the dosage of ground coffee and the supply are controlled by the machines, whereby they may be activated by an operator or a user.
A super-automatic machine for the preparation of espresso coffee is known from the publication EP—0472272A2; this machine comprises a boiler, means for distributing beverages and microprocessor means for controlling both machine operations, such as beverages distribution, and operation parameters setting, such as the amount of water dispensed per each beverage, the water temperature in the boiler, etc.
Such a background art provides that, for controlling machine operations and, in particular, operation parameters setting, the machine comprises a plurality of push-buttons and a display unit arranged to display, for instance, the operation parameters that have been set.
Similarly, an automatic type traditional machine is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,660, said machine providing a plurality of push-buttons and a display unit for controlling and displaying, respectively, machine operations and operation parameters setting.
The Applicant has found that, typically, background art documents provide that, for controlling operation parameters of a coffee machine by means of a microprocessor, the presence is necessary both of a push-button device (keyboard) and of a numeric or alphanumeric visualisation device (display).
The presence of both such devices and in particular of the display involves, in Applicant opinion, a plurality of problems.
First of all, the display, unlike the keyboard, is an electronic device responsive to high temperatures and to humidity and, therefore, it must be placed so as not to be close to heat sources and to be protected from humidity; such a solution is not always easy to realise in a coffee machine, in particular if the machine is of the traditional type.
Secondly, the display position must be such to allow an operator or a user to see the displayed information.
Thirdly the displayed information, in order to be intelligible by the operator or user, must be in the operator's or user's language; such a requirement imposes the necessity to associate to the microprocessor enough additional memory to store the information to be displayed on the display in several languages, and this necessarily involves high manufacturing costs.
In summary the Applicant has found that the presence of additional devices, such as the display and the additional memory, besides involving greater malfunctioning risks, impose both higher design costs, as it is necessary to arrange the display with utmost precision, and higher manufacturing costs, because, as a matter of fact, it is necessary to provide for the presence of additional devices.